


Forgiveness

by irishgirlE



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Gen, Lucifer's Cage, Swearing, mentions of torture, mostly angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 09:19:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13900998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irishgirlE/pseuds/irishgirlE
Summary: Christmas in the Cage between two brothers





	Forgiveness

**Author's Note:**

> This is an edited version of a fic I uploaded on fanfiction.net in 2013 under the same name, so it is quite old. It does contain some swearing, but I think it's just the one. Also, there is some description of torture so if anyone is uncomfortable with reading that - then maybe click the back button. It's not too graphic, but it's not pretty. I hope you enjoy, anyway.

A small, pitiful fire burned. It was nothing, really, in the constant chill of the Cage but to the two men who had spent so long in ice and cold and pain – it was a lifeline. It was a light in the darkness, a small flickering source of warmth. Without the powers of the Cage, they both would have frozen to death in minutes of arriving. According to Lucifer, today was Christmas. Their final days on Earth had been in the warm month of May. 

Sam and Adam huddled as close as possible to one another, and the flames. Anything for warmth.

The Archangels’ torture had left its mark. Both men were bloody, bruised and broken. Adam’s ear had been torn off the other day, leaving an ugly gaping hole on the side of his head. The Cage’s restorative powers hadn’t repaired the damage yet. 

There was no way to measure time in the Cage, although Lucifer seemed to have some mental calendar, so Sam had no idea how long it took for them to heal from their more serious injuries. It seemed quicker than natural, but it was still too soon. The moment their wounds were healed, they would just be on the rack again, and that was only if they ever left it. Sam remembered spending a short eternity hanging from his wrists with his guts on display, it had been horrific to see, as well as experience, but it hadn’t stopped Lucifer. 

Thankfully, Lucifer and Michael had left them alone. Merry – fucking – Christmas to them. 

It was rare enough that they were left to their own devices. Even rarer that they were free from the rack when it happened. Sam passed this time telling Adam stories about Dean, and their life growing up as hunters. Adam told Sam stories about John being a dad. John had taken Adam to a baseball game, John had never even attended one of Sam’s basketball games. But he was past the point of being angry with John. He was past the point of being angry at anyone.  
Adam groaned as a particularly violent shiver ripped through his broken body. He pressed closer to Sam’s broken shoulder and gaping side. Sam didn’t cry out, they were both well past the point of crying out. 

"This is the worst Christmas ever," Sam mused, dejectedly. 

Adam glanced at him with a cheeky smile. Sam hated it when he smiled like that. It was so like Dean. It was so like the happy teenager with his whole life ahead of him that Adam had been before his life was snuffed out because of the brothers he didn’t know he had. That smile made Sam’s heart ache for a different reason than Lucifer’s knives or Michael’s taunts. "Even worse than the Christmas you found out monsters were real?" Adam wondered. 

Sam paused to think about that Christmas. Dean had done a lot that Christmas, but he had been so worried about his dad being missing, and about what he had read in his journal. It had been a difficult day, but as far as Winchester Christmases went, it had been alright. "Even worse than the Christmas spent out hunting that Wendigo,” Sam replied, lightly poking Adam. 

The silence returned, only the flames and distant screams could be heard. Whatever Michael and Lucifer were doing, it didn’t sound very friendly. Or maybe it was the damned souls screaming in the Hell, the ordinary Hell, not their personal Hell.

A tear rolled down Adam’s cheek – what was left of it anyway. Sam didn’t want to imagine what Adam was thinking about. Maybe his own memories of Christmas, with his mother, who was also brutally murdered because of her lover’s secret sons. 

"Adam… I'm… -" Sam began. 

"Don't say it, Sam," Adam spat. His voice was thick as he tried to hide his tears. "Don't you dare say it." Adam rose to his feet and turned away from Sam.

Sam shivered from the sudden lack of warmth. Adam’s small body didn’t produce much warmth, but it was all he had. Adam was all he had. He was all Adam had. All he had left, anyway. 

"Don’t say you’re sorry, because I forgive you anyway," Adam muttered. 

Sam rose and stood behind Adam. Adam spun around and buried his face in Sam's unbroken shoulder. His arms came up automatically to wrap around his younger brother, holding him tight. Because they were all the other had in this evil world. Sam wondered if, if John had ever told them about Adam, would he have ever held him like this? Did he have the Apocalypse and the angels to thank for being able to hold the brother he had never known? 

"Really?" Sam asked, not daring to believe that Adam forgave him. He didn’t forgive himself. 

"Yeah. I get why you dragged us down here… I mean the fate of the world and shit… and anyway, you're my brother." He looked up into his older brother's eyes. "I'll always forgive you."

Sam hugged Adam closer and buried his face in his younger brother's hair. It was soft, even after months spent being torn to pieces and repaired, tortured and broken. 

The fires burned, and brothers held each other close, hoping, promising, begging to save the other.


End file.
